For the second consecutive year, the Research Experiences in Astronomy at CIERA for High School Students (REACH) program welcomed a record number of participants from around the world to Northwestern for the summer. Running in parallel was the Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program. Supported by countless CIERA members from a range of career levels, CIERA’s slate of summer initiatives fostered a thriving cross-generational community united by a love for astrophysics and STEM education. 
REACH is a highly-interactive 3-week program, with an optional 3-week extension, that offers high school students experience with real astronomy research. Students receive astronomy lessons from CIERA scientists and learn Python computer programming using the REACHpy GitHub tutorial and Google Colab. At the end of the 3-week core program, students give an astronomy research presentation to their peers. 51 total students participated in the 2024 Core REACH program; 15 of those also participated in REACH Further, the one-on-one mentorship extension.
“I was really impressed with this year’s cohort in their drive to create a community with their peers, even across sessions,” noted CIERA Education and Outreach Coordinator James Schottelkotte. “The students from the first Core session actively sought to connect with students from the second Core session.”
The program saw 59% participation from women and non-binary students and 20% from underrepresented minorities in STEM. CIERA was able to provide full or partial tuition waivers to 17 students, totaling near $45,000, thanks to the support of The Brinson Foundation, IMC Trading and friends of CIERA.
“It was such a privilege to work with the next generation of problem solvers in astronomy!” said REACH Programs Coordinator and CIERA graduate student Nathalie Jones. “I loved seeing the students learn about something completely new to them, connect the dots with previous knowledge, and ask so many follow up questions. Or watch them work together to tackle coding problems or brainstorm the most innovative, unique way to present their projects. They reminded me why I do astronomy: to share knowledge and passion, solve big problems collaboratively, and inspire others to get involved in STEM.”
“REACH Further was an amazing opportunity and I had so much fun in this program,” shared a student. “The content of my project was challenging but I enjoyed it even more because of this. I am so glad to have participated in this program!”
Learning alongside the REACH students, 4 local educators participated in the 2024 RET program. All 4 participants this year teach at schools with high populations of low-income households and racial minorities. During the program, the educators engaged in cutting-edge astronomy research, received coding tutorials, and worked in teams of two on independent research projects. Through intensive curriculum-development workshops led by experts at the Baxter Center for Science Education, RET participants were trained how to take the lessons they learned during the program back into their own classrooms and curricula. The program culminated with the teachers presenting their research to their peers and CIERA members. RET participants received a stipend for their work thanks to funding from the National Science Foundation.
“I loved this program!” shared a 2024 RET participant. “It changed my life and my view on teaching, and I cannot wait to stay in touch and update everyone about the work that I am doing and learn how it is going for everyone else.”
Congratulations to all the students and teachers who contributed to 2024 REACH and RET programming and thank you to all the CIERA members who made it all possible!
Program staff
REACH
James Schottelkotte, Michael Stroh, Kierstin Sorensen, Nathalie Jones, Jonathan Roberts, and Christine Ross
RET
Fulya Kiroğlu, Jennifer Richards, James Schottelkotte, and Chase Kimball
Mentors
REACH
Juan Barrera López, Deepika Bollimpalli, Alice Cai, Alexa Gordon, Emma Kaufman, Fulya Kiroğlu, Andrew Marszewski, Miguel Martinez, Ilia Qato, Kierstin Sorensen, Michael Stroh, Hailin Wang, Xinfeng Xu
RET
Additional instructors/helpers
REACH
Dany Atallah, Juan Barrera Lopez, Deepika Bollimpalli, Amanda Chavez, Erin Cox, Rodrigo Ferrer-Chavez, Kari Frank, Mark Gorski, Peggy Guo, Goni Halevi, Saarah Hall, Beryl Hovis-Afflerbach, Ben Hyatt, Pavani Jairim, Emma Kaufman, Charlie Kilpatrick, Fulya Kıroğlu, Nathalie Korhonen Cuestas, Dean Kousiounelos, Andrew Marszewski, Miguel Martinez, Gideon McFarland, Ethan Rengifo, Sanaea Rose, Imran Sultan, Asad Ukani, Caroline von Raesfeld, Nycole Wenner, Nastasha Wijers, Xinfeng Xu, the CIERA Staff team
RET
Aaron Geller and the CIERA Staff team